


On the Side of the Angels

by WolfAndHound_Archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Romance, Second War with Voldemort, Sex, Work In Progress, mating for life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2004-07-20
Packaged: 2018-05-18 15:17:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5933035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfAndHound_Archivist/pseuds/WolfAndHound_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus Lupin arrives back at Hogwarts a broken man, Harry Potter arrives with a piece missing from his heart. Both men are about to find out that solace comes not only from the hands of your friends, but also from the hands of your enemies ...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Lassenia, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Wolf and Hound](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Wolf_and_Hound), which was created to make stories posted to the Sirius_Black_and_Remus_Lupin Yahoo! mailing list easier to find. However, even though I still love the fandom, I am no longer active in it and do not have the time to maintain it. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in December 2015. I posted an announcement with Open Doors, but we may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Wolf and Hound collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/wolfandhound/profile).

_**Prologue** _

Like all good stories, the past is rooted in mystery, deceit and a myriad of passed crossed and bridges broken. To understand this story we must begin right at the beginning with a different cast in the halls of Hogwarts School before the first fall of the Dark Lord and the subsequent deaths of our loved ones. To understand this story of tangled hearts and crossed love we must go back to a group of young boys in their sixth year struggling with adolescence and their place in the world. We must visit a Gryffindor dormitory at three in the afternoon on a beautiful autumn morning, we must visit the rooms of the Marauders ...

\+ + + 

"Ew!"

Remus looked up, blinking at the light that dazzled his eyes from the open window. He checked the clock. Three hours and he hadn't looked up from his Potions assignment once. The sixth year Gryffindor's boys dormitory was, to put it bluntly, nothing less than a shambles. Dirty washing lay tucked underneath beds and trunks where no house elf could possibly find them, plates smuggled up that morning from the kitchens lay, half empty, on the floor, rolls of parchment with one or two words written on them lay crumpled in the fireplace awaiting the moment when they would be lit. Remus shook his head, he would be the one left to tidy this.

"What?" he asked, moving his thumb to reveal a smudge on last paragraph of his essay. Bollocks. There would be points taken away from that if the word was deemed `unreadable' by Professor Furey. Well, there was nothing else for it, he would just have to write out that page again.

Sirius was waving his hand about in midair, wearing what could only be described as a positively priceless look of horror. "That's bloody - - Peter was that you?" Remus caught his hand. He was going to take someone's eye out with it. Inspecting it carefully he found that he had to agree with Sirius, it was disgusting. Stuck to Sirius' palm was a squashed Every Flavour Bean. It's colouring was a sickly white colour which made the hairs and pieces of fluff sticking to it all the more vivid. It was also wet. Finding a scrap piece of parchment Remus picked it off and threw it in the fireplace. Sirius was right; ew.

A pair of watery eyes gazed at Sirius from behind a very bashed, ill treated copy of `Potions for the Positive'. Peter Pettigrew was, perhaps, the furthest behind in the essay seeing as he couldn't figure out the second question for the life of him. When he saw the expression on Sirius' face and the bean sticking out of the parchment where Remus had thrown it he hunkered down further, mumbling an apology. "It was a baking soda flavoured one ..." Sirius still didn't look impressed.

"I don't care if it was a bloody earwax flavoured one - -" Remus shuddered, "If your going to spit them out then at least have better aim and get it in the bin. Great Merlin, Wormtail, you'd think it was so much to ask." And with that Sirius proceeded to turn his back on Peter and do what his fellow student hated the most; give him the silent treatment.

Remus sighed. This was going to be a long Sunday. They had all realised, way too late, that they only had a month to get their sixth year Potions assignment in on time and had gone in to the appropriate panic mode, rushing down to the library and each getting out as many books as they could on their library passes. All except Remus, that is, who had started his assignment the week that he had been given it (at the start of the year, as he had pointed out to Sirius and co.) was now putting the finishing touches on the last few lines. The sixth year assignments were, perhaps, the hardest that a student in Hogwarts could ever get. They, along with the seventh year one that is, contributed to your NEWTs and were, in Remus view at least, very important. The sixth and seventh year assignments were a series of scenarios. You were to look for the best Potion to fit the particular scenario, research it, give a brief description of its effects and then give instructions for its use. In the case of poisons you were also to give the same information for the antidote. At the end of the year you would make the Potions of your choice and be graded appropriately. There were ten scenarios in all and Remus had easily been able to fill them, some he had even managed to find two or three possibilities for and had listed them as well, in the hope of better marks.

Lord only knows, he needed them. Potions was a complicated subject at times and because he missed so much of it, what with not being able to attend classes for three days out of each month, he missed some vital information every time he missed a class. The theory he could do perfectly, memorising everything the way it was to be added, but he'd missed the practical side of things. He'd missed learning how to shred and chop specific ways and how to pickle certain tricky ingredients. He'd also missed a valuable lecture on what to expect in the exams, one which neither James nor Sirius had paid much attention to and therefore not taken notes on. (He'd tried to read Peter's notes once and after about an hour of trying to read the page he had realised that he'd had it upside down. After righting it and peering for a further fifteen minutes he'd given up and had simply borrowed a book on the subject from the library.)

Sirius leaned over and grabbed the smudged parchment before Remus could take a hold of it. There were few things that he denied his friends but reading his schoolwork and copying for it to further their marks was one of them. "Sirius, give it back." He had a headache, he was beginning to realise, and he was in no mood for this. "If you haven't done nine, then ten won't make any sense to you anyway." The playful smile on Sirius' face took some of the sting away from Remus' growing bad mood. The coal haired youth tossed the parchment back with a casual wink and then hopped of off the bed to steal James' instead. As James wasn't there to protest (much too busy sunning himself on the Quidditch field) Remus, to avoid an argument, pretended that he hadn't noticed.

They were planning on a timeout at some point, a walk around the grounds when James came back but Remus wasn't sure that his friends could afford the small break. If they thought for one minute that four weeks frenzied work could make up for almost an entire six months gruelling effort then they were sadly mistaken. Remus worried sometimes that they were neglecting their least favourite subjects in the hope of getting excellent passes on their preferred ones. James was top of Transfiguration and Sirius has been doing exceptionally well in Charms of late but when it came to their Dark Arts work or their Potions finals their heads seemed to be permanently stuck in the clouds.

He shrugged off his gloomy thoughts, he'd been depressed of late and their was no point in dwelling on things that were beyond his control. Sighing he realised that he was out of parchment, he'd have to remember to buy some in their next Hogsmede trip, providing, of course, that it didn't land on another full moon. "Padfoot, can I borrow some parchment, I don't want to use the new bundle, I need them for classes." Sirius' head popped up from James' work and he scurried across, three of four sheets of parchment in his hands. "Thanks, mate," he shook his head. How did he go through so much? He had small writing after all!

Sirius slotted himself behind Remus, pressing up against him. Remus smiled, it had been a while since he'd had a hug from anyone. "Moony, I need a word," the smile faded. Sirius sounded quite serious. Wonderful, what had he done now? Craning his neck around the amber eyed youth tried to look positive but it took all of his strength. He desperately wanted to crawl away and sleep somewhere.

Sirius' arms were still firmly around his waist and when he pressed his cheek against Remus' he smiled, "Don't worry, Rem', I'm not pissed at you or anything. I was just wondering something," he would have turned around but the hug felt too good so he simply leaned back, enjoying the closeness of his best friend. "James was saying that you weren't happy. That maybe it's got something to do with me." James was going to hear about this, Remus decided, temper stirring deep inside him. He'd told James his feelings in confidence. While the friends usually kept nothing from each other Remus had specifically requested that James not tell Sirius.

As if picking up on his unspoken thoughts Sirius gripped him a tiny bit tighter and Remus gratefully returned the squeeze. The four of them were usually quite tactile with each other but for some reason the contact meant more for him right now, "Don't blame Prongs, he was worried about you and didn't know what to do. You've been awfully quite recently, Rem'. James said you felt left out, all you had to do was say something. Is that how you feel?" Remus glanced across to Peter but he seemed too engrossed and worried about how to finish question two to worry about what Sirius and Remus were chatting about.

"It's just ... it's nothing really. Just lately you and James seem to be conspiring about something and I wasn't in on the plan. I'm being ridiculous," he didn't also mention that they'd been secretive around him and that he felt that they were laughing at him behind his back. That would be one step too far. His thoughts were broken when Sirius began ticking him earnestly.

"Do - you - want - to - know - what - we - were - planning?" Sirius said, each word punctuated with a fresh assault of torture delivered with deft fingers, "We - were - planning - your - birthday - surprise," he stopped enough to let the now pinned onto the bed werewolf draw a proper breath then he grinned devilishly, "We wanted to make it memorable. So we've made preparations." Remus immediately felt guilty but yet still strangely relieved that his best friends hadn't thought to leave him out of something.

"I'm sorry Siri'," he still couldn't keep himself from grinning, "I thought you wanted me to bugger off and leave you two alone."

Sirius made a face at him, "I love James and all that but he's not my type," Remus felt a blush rising in his cheeks, "I don't like guys with dark hair, you should know that Moony," and with that he sat firmly on Remus' midsection. In the wizarding world it was just as common to see two men together or two women together as it was to see a `normal' couple of guy and gal. However, while most people preferred to keep their preferences to themselves and hit on who they wanted to with minimal fuss, Sirius Black much preferred to broadcast to anyone who would listen that his tastes allowed him the best of both sexes. He was very openly what Muggles would term `bisexual'. Of course there were no ridiculous terms like that in the wizarding world. It was just an accepted fact.

Remus, for example, liked guys just as much as Sirius but he didn't go about screaming it to people. However, he wasn't complaining to anyone, if Sirius thought he was attractive them Remus was going to have to be careful he didn't let his head get too big. Sirius picked only the best of the bunch. And besides, he flirted with Sirius all the time. It was also possible that Sirius wasn't actually flirting with him, that he was just stating fact. Sirius didn't like dark haired men, he seldom went for dark haired women either, which in itself was a contradiction seeing as Sirius has the most beautiful coal black hair Remus had ever seen. It shone like a ravens wing.

Remus huffed a breath in under Sirius' weight, "So you still love me then?" it was a daft question. They were far too close not to love each other even if it was just as exceptionally good friends.

"'Course. Where would Padfoot and Prongs be without Moony and Wormtail?" Remus just realised then that Peter had decided to ignore his copy of `Potions for the Positive' in favour of avidly following their exchange. At Sirius' words and his subsequent pardon he grinned widely. Remus laughed. Gods he loved his friends.

Just then the door opened and James walked in, dusty Quidditch robes, mucky face and battered looking broomstick. He didn't look pleased. Actually he looked furious. Throwing down his broom he began to rip of his Quidditch robes with fierce intensity in his eyes. Everyone immediately scurried to his side, an explosion was coming any second and all three of them would have to calm him down before he blew the roof off. Remus touched a hand to his leg as he dumped himself on Peter's bed, which was next to the door, "What's wrong?" there was no point in asking if something was wrong, that was all too obvious.

"Snape," Remus watched Sirius' expression darken and Peter get a little more excited, this meant that someone was in for it.

"What about him?" Sirius ground out through clenched teeth. Yes, a confrontation was now inevitable.

"Sade just gave me a tip off about our old pal, Snivellus," James said, throwing himself down beside Remus. Sade Kelly was James' cousin once removed on his mothers side. She was a tall, attractive Ravenclaw. She was also Chaser for her house team and the Gryffindor's had Charms and Care of Magical Creatures with the Ravenclaw's twice a week. Remus liked her, she was fun to be around.

"What did she say?" Peter asked, gripped by the immensity of James' anger.

"She said that Snape has been staying behind after class in Herbology for the last two months preparing himself for the Herbology trip. Apparently he thinks Slytherin are much more likely to win the foraging hunts." All of their faces darkened and Remus knew what was coming now, they were going to confront their fellow student with this.

"Why does she talk to that greasy git?" Sirius asked, absentmindedly.

"She talks to everyone, Sade," James mumbled, trying to wrench off his robes without unsettling his glasses, "Even if she hates them. It's useful though, you have to admit. Without her we wouldn't have known about Malfoy and that bitch Narcissa upsetting Lily and - -"

"But you know what that means, don't you?" Sirius snapped suddenly making them jump, "It means he probably knows what we're going to be looking for and where to find it. The charts and that'll have been there!"

James nodded slowly, weighing the thoughts out, "He's there now, according to Sade he's been going all Sunday, every Sunday. He leaves just before curfew." The statement carried weight to it. Implications.

"We could get him then!" Peter chipped in, seeming happy to have grasped what James meant by his last words, "After he comes out of the greenhouse!" The other two nodded. Remus sighed, he was already thinking of the trouble they would get in if they were caught pushing Snape around. Especially if he'd just come away from a teacher and they were still near. He decided that he would hand his essay in early then, while they were finishing with Snape he would use the excuse of nipping down to the dungeon to hand in his Potions assignment. That would make sure he didn't have to take sides again.

"Tonight then," Sirius said, "We'll make sure he thinks twice about trying to cheat the Gryffindor's out of more points again."

Remus got up and went to rewrite the last page of his essay, biting his tongue to keep from pointing out that if they were caught they'd loose Gryffindor more points than Snape could ever manage single handily.

\+ + +

The sun had faded from the sky, leaving red trails behind it streaking across the orange horizon. Hogwarts beamed against it's spectacular backdrop, the turrets seeming to raise even higher, trying to touch the wisps of pink cloud caressing the warm night air. It was the last day before the Herbology trip and, for once, Severus Snape was looking forward to spending time with Gryffindor's. Well not spending time, exactly, more beating them at every plant and mineral finding expedition. And doing it in record time, if he could help it.

He'd been practising for the better part of two months, going down to the greenhouses and having Professor Goodkind test him on different herbs and their environments, some weeds and their properties, venomous plants, healing shrubs. He'd managed to cover the lot and now there wasn't one plant or fungi that he didn't know. Of course, being the top of the class in Potions helped considerably. There wasn't a crushed up, shredded or mashed plant known to man that couldn't be used in one potion or another.

Trudging back from the greenhouse he stuck his hand in his satchel bag, his Potions assignment could be handed in while he was at it. There was no point in trying to hide it from the other Slytherin's anymore, he'd long ago ran out of decent hiding places in his common room and he knew for a fact that if Lucius Malfoy decided a wanted a copy of Snape's essay, he would get it. One way or another. No, it was much safer just to hand it in on the way back. That way he was certain of getting his in first and keeping his top spot in the class.

"Yo, Snivellus, how's it hangin'?", a hand slapped his back hard enough to make him loose the air in his lungs. Sirius Black's face appeared to his left, grinning maliciously. Severus looked around, James Potter was coming up to his right. He didn't have to turn around fully to know that Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were following close behind. He stuffed his essay back into his satchel as quickly as he could, if they saw that then no doubt they'd steal it or some such. He'd put the best part of six months hard work into that essay and he wasn't going to loose it to a few arrogant idiots who thought two weeks rush work would be enough.

"Ah, now see. Here we go again Sniv', you shouldn't ignore people, it's bad manners," Potter pulled his satchel from his grip. Severus spun around, grabbing for it and only succeeding in catching the strap and partially tearing it off. Dammit. He spun back again, wand out and right in Black's face.

"We've got his attention now, Prongs," Black sneered, "What's wrong? Can't take a little friendly curiosity?"

"Give me the bag back or I swear I'll hex the life out of you," ordinarily he would have done it straight away but, in weighing up his options, it was much safer to bargain for the satchel. There were valuable notes in there along with his essay that he didn't want to loose. Even he couldn't remember everything and he'd need some of those for the Herbology trip if he wanted to wipe the sneer of off Black's face.

There was a sharp pain in the side of his head all of a sudden and white spots danced before his eyes. When his vision cleared he was flat on his back with the excited face of Peter Pettigrew about half a foot from his. "Wormtail!" barked Black, "What have we told you? Leave this to us and for Pete's sake, don't leave marks in case he decides to grass ... Merlin ..." Pettigrew's face was removed from his line of vision and replaced with Black who grabbed his robes before he could move and yanked him up, spinning him around and pinning him firmly against the corner of the nearest greenhouse.

"We've been hearing stories about you, Snape," Black ground out from between clenched teeth, "About you getting extra practice for Herbology. About you reading the lists of what we've too look for."

Snape looked at him and pulled himself up with haughty indignation that belonged to a man well beyond his years, "Unlike some I don't need to cheat, the talent comes naturally to me Black. It's not my fault you don't have any." That did it. Black brought his knee up, hard, into Snape's groin and left him a gasping, almost sobbing pile on the ground.

"Look here Snape," Black said, leaning casually where he had pinned Severus only a second earlier, "We don't take kindly to your cheek. Anyway, back to what I was saying. You've cheated and we think it's only fair if we get to know exactly what you do so if you'll just give me a second ... right Prongs." He saw his bag being tipped up through the tears of pain clouding his eyes. Everything went tumbling out, some ink bottles rolling away and quills being trampled on. Then a hand went to his notes and picked them of off the ground.

"Got it." Another hand picked up his essay while Potter's feet came closer.

"Okay. Thanks, Snivellus. See ya' later." Black walked a few paces, "You handing that in, Moony?" there was some muffled conversation and then a distinct movement of feet, the noise heading away from him. Snape squeezed his eyes shut again, waiting till the noise died away. It was several minutes before he came to his knees, looking about at his scattered things. His groin was on fire. He hissed a few curse words and rolled to his feet properly.

Remus Lupin stood in front of him, his stance apologetic and his hand stretched out, bearing Snape's essay.

"It's got a few mud spots on it," Lupin said. His voice was edgy, as if he was expecting to be caught at any time. "But I think it's basically still in tact." Snape took a few seconds to glare at him and then use his eyes to search about, checking to make sure that it wasn't a trap then he snatched the essay from his hand. "I - um, sorry. About them." Snape spared him a look of pure loathing before snatching up his books. What the hell was he trying to do? Lull him into a false sense of security so Black and Potter could come and beat the crap out of him? Yes, keep going Lupin. Make more of a fool out of yourself. I'm not buying.

"Piss off, Lupin. Go crawl back to Black." He stuffed his things back in to his satchel as quickly as he possibly could and then took a painstaking step forward, his groin protesting all the way. Lupin was still standing behind him.

"I could, em, take that essay down with me if you like. You know, save you walking after ..." so that was it. The idiot was actually embarrassed for his friends. Thinking back on it Lupin had never actually gotten involved in the idiocy of his friends. Nevertheless Snape couldn't really care less. He had work to do and some new notes to write up. Hopefully Black and Potter wouldn't be able to read his shorthand.

"Are you soft in the head or simply getting there slowly?" he leaned into his face and resisted admirably the urge to plant his fist in Lupin's teeth. "I said piss off. I don't want your sympathy or your guilt. I don't need them. Stay the hell away from me or I swear I'll make you rue the first day you drew breath."

Then he stomped away leaving Lupin gaping like an idiot.

It was the most satisfying thing he'd done all day.

\+ + +

Remus got back to the common room about half an hour later. He deliberately didn't go upstairs to their dorm. He needed to plan something to say first.

Theoretically he could punish his three friends for their behaviour, he was a Prefect and it would be terribly easy to just give them detentions or something but then, he thought to himself, he'd probably just loose his friends and they'd continue teasing Snape anyway. There was also the option of simply sitting them down and saying that it wasn't on.

If he was truthful with himself he didn't want to do either. He was afraid of loosing his friends. He didn't have that many. And after all they'd done for him, you think he'd be a little more grateful. But, dammit. It just wasn't on. They could have seriously hurt Snape - they could have done him a serious, irreparable injury. That wasn't fair. Especially when Snape didn't have a chance to defend himself against them. Even more so because Sirius simply assumed that he had read the charts that mapped out the woods where the Herbology trip was always held. He had assumed that Snape had cheated. Remus had a feeling that he had not.

Snape was bright. Impossibly so. Remus was sometimes jealous of him. Yes, Remus was intelligent but he had to work hard to make sure he stayed on top of things. Snape didn't. It came, as he'd said earlier, naturally to him. He was naturally good at Potions and he naturally excelled in Dark Arts despite having an unhealthy interest in the subject. Snape had come to school, it seemed, with a personal mission; he was going to excel even the teachers in their chosen subjects. It was already obvious that he was going to far surpass their Potions Master. Anyone with half a brain could see that.

Remus felt sorry for Snape, however. He was unpopular but not for the right reasons. He was unpopular because he didn't fit in with peoples estimations of what a `normal' sixteen year old should he like. Snape was, for one, very tall but he had also drawn the short straw of being skinny with it which made him, subconsciously, hunch when he was walking. His hair, Remus knew, what naturally ... greasy. It wasn't Snape's fault. If he didn't wash it then the rest of him would smell and the only thing Remus ever caught from him was a hint of mint. His nose was another subject that people seemed to revel in concocting insults around. It was long and hooked, distinctly out of place of his slim, sallow face.

Remus sighed. It wasn't Snape's fault he looked the way he did. Remus himself was of average attractiveness and that was when he was clean and fresh and had spent half an hour taming the silky, tawny brown shoulder length hair that was the bane of his existence. It wasn't Snape's fault, either, that James happened to be Sirius' best friend. If he and James had have ignored each other at the sorting ceremony almost six years ago then Sirius wouldn't tease him quite so much. He wouldn't have quite so much to contend with.

The fact was that Remus felt a strange type of kinship with the dark haired Slytherin. Remus was an oddball too. He was quiet, studious. He was also a werewolf. What was more he felt out of place at times, the same kind of out of place that Snape must feel every day, even in the Slytherin common room. The only difference was that Remus had managed to pick, and keep, powerful friends. Otherwise he would have been very lonely indeed.

He yawned, long and wide. He'd done enough thinking today. He'd done enough worrying. Maybe tomorrow he would pull the guilt trip on Sirius and James. There was no point in appealing to Peter's more tender sensibilities. The plain fact was that he didn't have any. Maybe tomorrow, his birthday, would be different. Actually, now that he looked at the clock, he'd been sixteen for twenty minutes. Legal to use magic outside Hogwarts, legal to have sex (not in his lifetime), legal to buy fire whisky in the Three Broomsticks. He yawned again. Maybe legal but still tired. He crawled into the dorm.

It wasn't until he'd undressed and slipped into a pair of comfortable pyjama bottoms that he realised something was wrong. Sirius was in the wrong bed. He was in Remus' bed. The werewolf frowned. Then a low, silky voice drifted to him in the still night air.

"Are you ever going to come in here? I've been waiting for over two hours, I was almost asleep." Right well, that was all fine and good. But why was he waiting in Remus' bed?

"Sirius," he walked around to the side of the bed, "What are you doing?"

Sirius gave him a look that said it was all too bloody obvious. "Waiting to give you your birthday present." Okay, but why did he have to do it in Remus' bed? This was all becoming very vague and his brain was refusing to work itself around the possibilities. "Get in then." Get in, right. He could just about manage that.

The second he was in Sirius snaked around him like a vine. Bare skin pressed against him. Remus yelped and Sirius poked him in the side. "Shoosh! You'll wake everyone up." Remus turned to him, squinting in the darkness.

"Sirius, sorry for sounding thick but what are you doing in my bed?" the lazy smile drew across Sirius' face and he stroked a hand down Remus' cheek.

"Giving you your birthday present. I told you. Look Moony," he leant over Remus' face, their lips inches apart. It sent shivers through him, "I've been thinking about this a lot. If you think about it, it makes sense ..." then he closed the gap and the only thing Remus could think about was the touch of Sirius' lips against his. The feel of Sirius' bottom lip in his mouth, his tongue on the tip of Remus' own. When Sirius pulled back he was breathless, and speechless which, he guessed, was what Sirius planned.

"Um. I g-guess it could m-make sense. How long have you b- been thinking about it?" Sirius inched closer, but since they couldn't conceivably get any closer he only succeeded in rubbing himself against Remus' thigh and sending shivers through his entire body.

"A while. I talked to James about it," a light frown creased Remus' face, "And he told me to go for it as long as it was what you wanted." He lay his head on Remus' shoulder, lifting only his dark eyes to gaze at the werewolf. His lowered lashes against the moonlight only added to Sirius' considerable good looks. Seduction guaranteed.

"I-I'd like that." It was a whisper. A mumble. It still got the message across.

"Look. I fancy you, you fancy me. We're mates so if it all falls through we're not going to want to knock the teeth out of each other. I think it's about time we both stopped putting it about - -" Remus made a face, "I stopped putting it about. So that maybe we could have something ... else. Does that make sense or have I just made a complete idiot of myself?" Sirius smirked at him through the darkness. Remus tossed over what he'd said in his mind, it did make sense. He and Sirius would make a cute couple, he'd always thought that. Though he'd never dared hope that Sirius might feel that way for him.

"So what's my birthday pressie then?" Remus wriggled against Sirius. Give it a go, that's what his father had always said. Although he doubted his father would ever have guessed that his good advice was being used to this ends.

"This," Sirius hissed into his ear while his hand plunged under the waistband of Remus' pyjama bottoms. It slithered down his leg, delicate fingers dancing across sensitive skin. He gasped as Sirius' hand curled around cock, Gods he knew what he was doing,

"Sirius ..." a kiss smothered his question. He was going to ask ... something. He couldn't quite remember now. It was just so sudden. Yesterday he had thought Sirius was annoyed at him for hanging around him and James. Today, tonight, he was in bed with Sirius and his hand was massaging him gently ... He moaned. "Don't stop," was all he could say when Sirius broke the kiss and he shifted his hips so they could get a better angle.

It only took a few minutes. He came biting into Sirius' shoulder hard enough to leave teeth marks. It took a few seconds before the white spots dancing in front of his eyes went away enough for him to gaze at Sirius. The older boy kissed him gently on the forehead, "Okay?"

Remus nodded. He was blissfully okay, perfect in fact. Better than he had been in a long time. Sirius ... was his boyfriend. Maybe. "What does this mean?" Sirius gave an exasperated sigh and wrapped him up in his arms, ignoring the stickiness between them.

"You twat. It means that you're my boyfriend and if anyone else asks you to the dance at the Christmas holidays or even thinks about laying a finger on you I'll cheerfully strangle the life out of them," then he chuckled and buried his face in Remus' neck.

Werewolves mated for life? True. Werewolves could only fall in love once? Wrong. The fact was that Werewolves could have as many partners as they wanted, they could fall in love, have children - the lot - without being mated to someone. A Werewolf mated when the wolf chose to and not before. The wolf inside knew when that person was right and, just as it was true for any other living human being, Werewolves could go through hundreds of partners in their lifetime without ever finding the right person for them. If Sirius was the right person then ... he would know. Eventually. When the wolf decided.

"I ... I love you, Siri'," he mumbled into the darkness of the other boys hair. A hank soothingly stroked his back.

"I know. I know you do." Sirius kissed the top of his ear and it sent shivers through him. God that felt good. "I love you, too." Now came the practical side of it. He felt like crap for breaking the moment but it would be the Herbology trip soon and he wouldn't have a chance to talk to his ... boyfriend alone before then.

"Are you staying in here for the night? And ... what's James and Peter going to say about this? Oh, and d-does this mean that your sharing a tent with me instead of James on the trip?" he put his head on Sirius' shoulder and buried himself there. He was so comfy.

"Do you want me to stay? Cause I think we should swap beds, this ones gotten kinda' moist," he laughed, "And I told you before. James was the one who told me to go for this and who cares what Wormtail thinks, anyway? He'll be just as happy with me and you together than with us as friends." Remus noted that he'd left out the last question. He'd done it tactfully but ... "And of course I'm sharing with you. You think I'd want to listen to Prongs mooning over Evans all night when I could be having nookie with you?" Okay so maybe it was his imagination running away with him because he was already afraid that he'd lose Sirius. A thought nagged at the back of his head, "Weren't you going out with Sade's friend? What was her name ...?"

"Maggie," Sirius supplied helpfully.

"That's it. Weren't you taking her to the dance?" Sirius smiled at him.

"I told her that I had a better offer and she said she understood." Remus arched an eyebrow. He had his suspicions about how Sirius had made her feel okay about that but he let it go. What he didn't know couldn't bug him every time he saw her. "Now come on, let's get to bed."

And they did. All thoughts of Snape drifted from Remus' mind as he fell into a deep sleep enfolded in Sirius Black's arms with his sweet breath ticking the hair on his neck.


	2. Chapter One: The Herbology Trip

Severus stared at the group of Slytherin's in front of him who seemed to think him trying to put up his tent without the use of his wand simply hilarious. They tried staring back but his dark glare seemed to put them off and they went back to picking on one of the Gryffindor's who had been stupid enough to venture out on her own. Severus went back to glaring at the tent. Not that it was going to do any bloody good.

The Herbology trip was strictly non-magic and all wands had been confiscated at the beginning of the trip. All enchanted objects were forbidden. Anything bewitched to find herbs or shrub plants found on the person of one of the students once leaving the castle would result in said pupil being sent home and never seeing the light of day again, or at least that's what Professor Goodkind said. Not that he cared. He was going to win this for the Slytherin's, magic or no magic. If there was one thing Gryffindor had in common with Slytherin it was competitive spirit and Slytherin's were traditionally bad losers. He was no exception to the rule.

The only problem with this was the fact that, since he had no one sharing a tent with him, he was the only one left to put it up and even through it was a normal Muggle tent (all magic was banned) it was still impossible to manage both ends at once. Trying, and failing, to find some way to prop up a tent pole while he stamped the other into the ground. It collapsed in on him and he let out a string of very creative swear words. Dammit! Surely Professor Goodkind could spare a second to give him a hand?

He looked around to see the Professor laughing with a group of Gryffindor's. Bitch that she was. Fine, he'd have a snack and try again in a minute or two. Sitting, cross-legged, on the grass he watched while the four Gryffindor's he hated the most grouped together to pitch their tents. Well, while Potter and Pettigrew put up their tent. Black and Lupin already had theirs pitched and were sitting on the grass with their arms wrapped about each other.

Black and Lupin had gotten together around the time of their encounter with Snape. They had been the talk of the school for two weeks and they were still getting the occasional glance from their fellow students. They were now the resident `cute couple' in the school. It made Snape sick. Black pawed Lupin every chance he got, he hung over him and glared at anyone who came near him. Despite the fact that he hated Lupin, he could see a flicker of something in his eyes, something behind his smiles. It made him think that Lupin was somehow not as happy as the romantics in the school would paint him to be. That cheered him a little.

After the day of the potions paper incident at the greenhouses Lupin averted his eyes every time Snape glared like he was amazingly unsettled by the though Snape new he was embarrassed for his friends. In a way Snape was glad that Lupin felt upset by his friends behaviour. This way Severus had one up on him. He could conceivably run a guilt trip on Lupin anytime he wanted.

Professor Goodkind strolled over to the happy couple and broke them up, sending Black, Pettigrew and Potter with two Slytherin's to look for firewood and leaving Lupin finishing a chicken sandwich on the grass. Snape felt his eyes and ignored him, finishing the piece of carrot cake he had in his hand and wiping his sticky fingers in his robes. Time to tackle the tent again.

He'd lifted one of the tent poles and was trying to think of a new approach when a voice drifted over his shoulder. It was a honey on sand voice that made him still straight away, "Do you want some help?" Snape looked around to make sure no one was watching them but all of the Slytherin's seemed engrossed in one of Malfoy's hilarious monologues so they ignored the strange scene.

"Go away, Lupin," he hissed, not getting up from his knees.

"Are you sure?" the voice was gentle and not mocking like his friends, "I wouldn't want to think you had to sleep outside." Somehow Snape could tell he meant it. Lupin crawled over the ground and picked up a couple of pegs, roughly positioning them in places.

"What makes you so much of a damned expert?" Snape snapped. He wasn't about to be shown up by a Gryffindor. Certainly not by Remus Lupin.

"My father and me used to go camping ... w-we did until r- recently," he started to stammer like an idiot and Snape decided to ignore him. Fine. The tent would go up then he would piss off. He rolled his eyes, why in the hell was he doing this again? "How's your, um - -" Lupin vaguely waved a hand around the region of Snape's bottom half.

"Fine." Snape ground from between clenched teeth. Actually it wasn't fine. Black had left a huge bruise where his leg and groin connected. It hurt like a bitch every time he sat on a chair and he'd tried touching himself the night before the trip to make sure all potential embarrassing moments were avoided but he couldn't find an angle with his hands that missed the bruise and in the end he'd just had to concentrate and will himself to stop thinking about it.

"I'm glad. I thought that maybe Sirius had really hurt you. You know, from the way you were walking?" he cursed himself for not managing to scrape up enough dignity to walk away from Lupin without limping. The Gryffindor handed him a pole and, when he seemed lost in thought, wiggled it in front of his nose. Coming back from that night and snatching it away from Lupin he went around the back of the tent to put it up, unconsciously checking Malfoy's gang still weren't watching.

"For what it's worth, I don't think you cheated. If I hadn't have had to spend so much time working on my Potions essay I would have probably went for extra help too." Snape glared at him.

"I didn't need extra help. I was making sure my notes were correct," he brought the hammer down on the peg with unnecessary force, "And if you didn't believe them then why be a stupid fool and follow along?" that had it's desired effect. Lupin coloured and then began babbling like an idiot again.

"Sorry. I j-just - -"

"Didn't want to loose your little boyfriend by pointing out to him how much of an arrogant, conceited dunderhead he was and instead chose to watch his manly show of strength against someone who, at that time, could do nothing against him?" he waited for a second while Lupin digested that little speech and then took pride in the way he went a scarlet colour and put his head down, shying away from any further attempts at conversation.

Once the tent had been put up, Lupin looked around for his friends but they were no where to be found. Thus, he seemed to find it helpful to go on annoying Snape by helping him put what little he had brought in his tent. There was no limit to what you could take, only that you had to be prepared to carry it there and back. Snape snatched his small Potions kit from Lupin before the buffoon broke something. There were some interesting herbs he wanted to find for himself while he was here and there were no rules about that.

"So ..." there he went again. Was the boy incapable of stilling his tongue? "How did you go with the essay?" those who handed the Potions assignment in early had been given an estimate to how well that would have done. Snape, of course, was going to be top of the class, again.

"As well as expected," he smirked, "You?" Lupin was abysmal in Potions. Never there to carry out the practical side he never got the marks he was capable of.

"Um," he seemed to be ashamed of himself, "Well the essay was okay but I'll probably do really badly on the practical side." Yes, that was true. He would probably do terribly. "What did you get for question seven? I wasn't sure whether I should have given him Steeling Potion or not, because of the side effects. It seemed like a trick question."

Snape resigned himself to the fact that Lupin was not going to leave until his friends returned. Hopefully by the time they got back Lupin's conscience would be healed and he would leave Snape alone for the remainder of the trip. "It was a trick question," he said, gingerly lowering himself down beside him. Lupin seemed to be pleased with himself, "The Steeling Potion was the only option."

Then Lupin's face fell, "Isn't that Potion really complicated to make?"

Snape kept his smirk to himself this time, "The Steeling Potion has over thirty ingredients and it needs to be brewed over a two week period. Each ingredient must be added at the proper time. If you are planning to attend the exam," Lupin gave a little sigh, "Then you should begin the potion as soon as you set up your cauldron."

"Thanks. For the advice I mean," then he pulled out a Chocolate Frog and broke it in half, handing half out to Snape. He'd just eaten but even if he hadn't he would still have refused the offer. That was like drawing a truce with him and there was no way Snape was going to let him off that easily.

"What did you pick for nine?" Severus asked. If Lupin was going to stay he might as well keep the conversation as interesting as he could.

"I thought that one was a little stupid, actually," Lupin laughed, "I mean, there's only so much Gillyweed you can take in the first place because it upsets your stomach but I used the Restoring Potion, I thought that if he could get out of the water and last long enough to take the Potion, that would be the best option." Snape considered that for a second.

"I chose a Reverting Potion," at the distressed look on Lupin's face he shrugged, "Though either would work. He would have had to get out of the water either way. Anyone stupid enough to ingest that amount of Gillyweed in the first place deserves whatever they get," Lupin laughed. His laugh was something Snape hadn't heard up close before. The honey on sand voice that Snape secretly quite liked lost only the sand when he laughed. It was a sweet rolling sound.

"That's what I thought," Lupin said re-offering the Frog before snarfing the lot in one go, "And ten?"

Snape had had to think about ten for a while. He'd known from the second he'd read the paper that it would take two potions in quick succession to solve the problem. "Initially I had thought to use a Firming Potion followed by the antidote, however, the poison would have been far too advanced for that so I chose to work both into the same potion. After that I made an improvised potion of my own to counter any lasting effects."

Lupin looked beyond impressed, "You made your own potion?"

"Yes," Snape said rather matter-of-factly, "Why?"

Lupin shook his head and held his hands up, "I just, well I have trouble with basic potions that have existed for centuries and your making your own. That's ... wow. Well done." Snape sniffed. He didn't need Lupin's well done. "Would ... would you maybe help m - -"

"Hey, Moony! What are you doing with that greasy git? Get over here!" Black.

Snape scowled at Lupin as he flashed him an apologetic smile, "Well, I'll see you soon then," he restrained himself from giving Lupin a rude gesture as he walked off then he crawled into his tent and pulled out his notes on resins. After he'd read the first paragraph twice over and realised that the words had stubbornly stayed on the page and not absorbed into his head he threw them back down in disgust.

For some reason he felt disappointed and even more sullen than before he'd begun putting the tent up. See what happened when he talked to Gryffindor's?

\+ + +

"You look happier than last time we talked." James sat down, cross-legged next to the fire and Remus, who was avidly watching the Slytherin's have some kind of hand wrestling contest, grinned at him.

"I need to thank you," James gave him a puzzled look, "For speaking to Sirius about us. If you hadn't have told him how I felt he wouldn't have ..." he broke of, blushing as the memory of their first night together kicked in. Since then they'd done nothing worse than a few heavy kisses, tongues duelling and then it was when they were alone. They had gone public the very next morning and they were blissfully happy, despite the fact Sirius tended to try and cop feels when he was answering questions in class. He sighed, it was the happiest sigh he'd had in ages.

"No problem, mate," James wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "I hated seeing you so unhappy. You're the best of us Moony and you bring out the best in Padfoot. I just wanted you to be happy." James smiled, kind, deep chocolate coloured eyes dancing in the light from the fire under an unruly mop of black hair. Then he took his arm back, removed his glasses and buried his face in his hands.

Remus, immediately concerned, pushed long tendrils of tawny brown hair behind his ears and leant down so his face was level with James, "Prongs, what is it, what's wrong?" when his friends face lifted at last it was twisted with a grief that made Remus heart skip a beat. He knew what it was. "Lily?"

James nodded miserably, "She hates me."

Remus ruffled his hair, not that it showed, and shook his own head, "No she doesn't. She just thinks you're a bit ..."

"Conceited. I know, Sirius told me, remember?" he held his hands up and looked at the sky, "Why me?" Remus rubbed his back. Poor James. He really did love Lily Evans. Poor Lily, when she eventually gave in to James she wasn't going to get a second to herself.

"You just need to ... show her how much you care about her. You also need to stop jinxing people in the corridors," actually it was mainly Snape he should stop jinxing in the corridors, "And try to stop showing off so much. I know you don't mean to do it. You and Sirius just seem to manage it without thinking. Lily doesn't like it though, she probably thinks you'll be showing off to other women when your with her. Evans seems the possessive sort."

James seemed to mull this over, "Am I conceited?" he looked a little desperate, his eyes looking a little shinier in the firelight. Remus, however, was always honest to his friends.

"A little." James' face fell, "But only some of the time." That did nothing to change the look. He wrapped both arms around his knees and buried his face in them. Remus shuffled closer so that he could put his arms around him.

"Prongs, mate ... just be nice to her. Try and be a gentleman." James' shoulders seemed to shake a little. James had never cried over Lily before. "Is there something else? Is something else bothering you?" The shaking got worse. So there was something else. He wondered ... was it maybe him and Sirius?

"I-it's n-nothing," James' voice was little more than a whisper.

"If your crying about it then it's something. Come on, you can still talk to me, can't you?" James nodded into his arms then mumbled something. "What?"

"I s-said, `D-don't be a p-prat," he laughed a little and Remus took that to mean he'd brightened up a bit.

"Come on, please?" Remus pressed his forehead to James' arms.

"I slept w-with someone I s-shouldn't have," that stunned Remus a little. James was no virgin, he knew that, but he wasn't one to sleep around. He chose his partners carefully and Remus knew he could only have had one or two.

"Oh, James." He didn't want to sound too off with him, or disappointed so he simply asked, "Who was it?" that seemed to make it worse, however, because James collapsed against him in a gibbering heap. Remus wrapped his arms around him. Poor baby. He'd probably gotten caught up in the heat of the moment.

"I'm in so much d-deep s-shit," Remus rocked him gently. It was very seldom James went to pieces, he was usually very together with little to worry about so it seemed important that Remus tread very carefully, "S-she was ... s-she ..." he put a hand to his back and Remus, puzzled, lifted his jumper a little. When he didn't protest Remus lifted it all the way. Then he gasped.

James' back was a myriad of long, deep scratches. Some were thick grooves, other were light cuts but they were obviously painful. Biting his lip, Remus wished he had his wand with him. A simple healing spell could lift most of the pain and make sure none of the cuts scarred. Even better would be going to Madam Pomfrey who, when it came to sixth and seventh years, would keep any probing questions to herself.

"Gods, James. Who did this?" he replaced James' jumper before the cold began to sting the cuts and his friend buried his face in the crook of his shoulder.

"Bellatrix L-Lestrange," he cried a little harder, "God's, what have I done? What if s-she tells L-Lily?" Remus kissed his neck and held him tighter, wary of hurting the cuts. He was stunned into silence. Bellatrix Lestrange. Now that was something he hadn't expected. She was vindictive, she was manipulative and she was Narcissa's right hand woman. If she told Lily she would do it in graphic terms and she would make sure that everyone knew. That way Lily would be humiliated because everyone knew she liked James the way he liked her, she'd also be stunned and hurt. James would never have a chance with her.

He didn't want to upset James but the need to know overruled his sense of empathy and he sat James up, wiping away tears and looking him in the eye, "Prongs, whatever possessed you?" James looked utterly miserable and defeated.

"She ... well I think it might have been something to do with the fact she spiked my drink with something." Gods, that could almost be classed as rape.

"Did she - - did she force you James?" he was very serious about this. Rape could destroy James and, ultimately, it could have Lestrange expelled.

"N-no," James seemed to be thinking really hard, "No. I wanted it. I-I thought maybe that she ... s-she didn't seem like a bitch at the t-time." His shoulders slumped lower, Remus breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't much better than rape but this way James knew that he was still in control and it wouldn't break him quite so much. At least that was the theory.

"Were you trying to get back at Lily?" it was counterproductive but if he was it would make sense.

James looked ashamed, "Yeah, kind of I g-guess." He'd stopped crying but he was sniffing hard and looking like he wanted to throw up. Remus took his hand.

"The best you can do is avoid her. If it looks like she's about to say something then tell Lily first. It would be better coming from you." He brushed a hand to James' tear stained face, "Just try and relax, get some sleep." James nodded and seemed a little calmer for having told someone about his predicament.

"Thanks, Moony." He seemed to pull himself up a little, slipping his glasses back on, "Don't tell Sirius. He'll get pissed off and have a go at her, he's certain to push her into saying something. I h-hate not telling him but, please?"

Remus smiled, "Of course." With a few murmured `goodnights' James crawled into his tent and Remus was left to watch for Sirius and Peter who came back about ten minutes later, laughing quietly. They'd gone for a pee over half an hour ago. What happened to them?

"We got lost," Peter laughed, "We realised we were walking in circles." Sirius seemed to find this hilarious. He had quickly gotten over his bad mood at Remus helping Snape with his tent, now he was giving Remus bedroom eyes.

"Come on, you," he purred and slinked into the tent, deliberately making sure his arse wiggled as he made his way in. Remus shivered then caught Peter before he went to bed.

"Watch James tonight, okay? He's a little fragile. He might need a hug." Peter was far more intelligent and perceptive than people gave him credit for. There was a lot more going on behind those pale green eyes than anyone ever thought. He was a good friend and terribly loyal.

Peter nodded and then smiled a big, winning smile, "Sure. You have fun," then he crawled into his tent.

Remus looked around at the hundreds of tents around them. There were some sixth years from all four houses there, half of the year really. The next half would go next week. Sade waved at him from beside her own fire and he grinned back before getting onto his knees and crawling in.

He fully intended to have fun.


	3. Chapter Two: Slytherin Weed

Remus was woken with a breeze blowing in his ear. He blinked in the morning sunlight and gave a tired grin as Sirius stopped blowing and began nibbling on said ear. "Morning, love," he whispered, not wanting to break the stillness of the morning.

They'd touched each other last night, hands exploring further than before. If Remus closed his eyes he could still feel Sirius' fingers inside of him as he came. Remus was the one who had asked they go slow and not dive into making love. Remus was a virgin. He didn't want to loose it in a fit of passion and then loose the perfect moment straight afterwards. Sirius had seemed all right with this. He hadn't wanted to rush Remus into something that he wasn't ready for and for that reason Remus was grateful.

He was surprised how quickly things had clicked into place. He felt like he had been with Sirius forever, they'd slipped into such a perfect routine. He was so amazing and their friends had been great, James and Peter having accepted it without a second thought. They hadn't even teased him about it playfully. It seemed that they had been together for years. The rest of the school had wished them well, except for a few fifth year girls who had had their eyes on Sirius for their latest catch.

Sirius stroked a hand underneath the blankets and ran it up and down the thin line of hair from Remus' navel to his groin. He giggled, "That tickles."

"I know," Sirius purred. That husky voice had haunted him in his dreams and it seemed now like it was oh, so familiar.

"Stop teasing," Remus moaned, a pout forming on his lips, "What time is it?"

Sirius checked his watch, "It's seven. That means we have half an hour before breakfast and then our first task." He stretched, and for someone who was all canine he seemed very much like a large black cat. Remus grinned, Gods he had good taste.

"Would you mind if I tried something?" Remus asked. He was thinking about trying last night but he'd gotten caught up in the heat of the moment and had forgotten all about his curiosity. Sirius' eyebrows made it all the way into his hairline. Remus wasn't the one who suggested things, it was usually Sirius. That was mainly because he was a hell of a lot more experienced.

"Sure. What did you have in mind?" Remus stirred under the blankets and let his shoulders leave the heat, sending a shiver right through him. Sirius seemed of a similar mindset and whimpered as the comforting heat left him. That just gave Remus an excuse to hide under the covers as he slinked down Sirius' body. "Oh," Sirius brought a hand down to rest on his head as Remus liked the top of his boyfriends thigh, "That? Sounds good to me, love." Remus smiled as he placed a kiss to the tip of Sirius' cock. It was hard already, he'd probably woken up that way.

"I've been thinking about this," Remus said licking the tip of the silky member gently and getting his first taste of salty pre- cum. "I thought I'd treat you." Sirius tangled his fingers in Remus' tawny brown mane of hair. He didn't push or even hold his head in place, just gently massaged his scalp.

Through a combination of lips and tongue Remus applied a little suction and Sirius', "Oh ... GodsyesGodsyes ..." pushed him to strengthen it a bit. Sirius' hips were bucking gently in round turns and Remus could tell that he was holding back so as not to hurt him. "Harder, suck just a littleharderplease .." Sirius was almost writhing beneath him and it felt so good. He was glad there was something that he could do to give Sirius pleasure. While he had made Sirius come more than once since they had gotten together he still felt that he was getting more than he was giving.

Then, all in a rush and with one swift buck of the hips, Sirius came. It was obvious he was trying to suppress a long yell and instead he settled for a low, throaty moan. His seed wasn't enough to fill Remus' mouth but it still took two swallows to clear it. It tasted salty and strange, not at all unpleasant, Remus had tasted himself like all young boys did even if it was just once. Not unpleasant. Just ... a little alien.

When he came up from the blankets Sirius' eyes were glazed and his expression slack. He looked thoroughly sexed up. He looked edible. His hair was tussled but, unlike Remus, Sirius' hair never got tugs. It was too silky. He would give it a shake and it would fall back around his shoulders without him even having to run a comb through it. Remus had to spend ten minutes working out huge tugs before he could even think about running a comb through it. "Fuck, that was good." Sirius' voice reflected his pleasure.

"Thank you," Remus' smile came through in his voice, "Was it okay?"

Sirius' slack lipped smile met his own, "I'm not just saying this to make you feel good but that was seriously the best I've had. It must be a natural talent." Sirius snuggled into his side. He liked to be held, much to Remus' satisfaction. It also hid his huge blush.

"Thanks," he whispered. They lay like that, in the morning silence, for about ten minutes before Sirius', rather clearer voice, made it through the birds twittering outside.

"Do you have any idea what's wrong with Prongs?" he sounded a little concerned and in turn, a little hurt, "He won't talk to me." Remus brain did some quick thinking and he came up with something pretty concrete.

"He's just gotten a little worried about that rushed Potions assignment you two handed in. You know he wants to be an Auror, he needs good grades." Sirius snorted and Remus hoped that he believed him.

"We should have nicked Snape's essay. I said that when we were walking back." Remus shook his head. That was why he had lifted it up before they had spotted it.

A knock came on the tent pole. "Breakfast!" it was Peter. He sounded excited about a new kind of breakfast. Sirius and Remus exchanged looks and grinned. Breakfast sounded great.

\+ + +

Malfoy. Oh, grand. Just bloody grand. He was to be paired with Malfoy for the hunt and if that wasn't bad enough, Malfoy's cronies were coming along for the ride. Simply wonderful.

Breakfast had gone fairly well, he'd gone and picked up his share then he was left in relative peace for the rest of the morning. Then it was time to be put into teams for the first task. He'd somehow managed to get himself landed with Lucius, Narcissa and Lucius' two trusted bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle. All in all, this basically meant that he would do all the work and Narcissa would preen at Lucius' side while the other two stood dumbly in a corner.

He would be just as well going on his bloody own.

They'd trudged through a clearing and ended up, somehow, right in the middle of a group of Ravenclaw's. They basically ignored him when he got out his task book and marked off the first of six roots he was supposed to be finding. Glancing around he saw the second right next to Sade Kelly. He'd hoped not to have to talk to anyone on this trip. If they were the first team back then he'd get points for Slytherin and they'd be one step closer to winning.

"All right?" Sade said, pushing her chestnut brown hair out of her face, "Geez, stuck with Narcissa? Poor you." He grunted in response. Kelly was one of those people who didn't require much conversation, she would basically let him be. He was glad of that. Since he'd talked with Lupin he'd been ... unsettled. Unable to concentrate. Lupin, in trying to be friendly, had screwed up his whole balance. And they called him weird.

Though it did bring up an interesting set of questions, "When did Lupin and Black get together?" he asked. She looked a little startled for a moment, which was unusual seeing as he had previously thought nothing would startle Sade Kelly. She had been, on occasion, referred to as an `Ice Queen'. Setting her root back down she lifted her eyes to the tree tops as if she had to think.

"Em ... I'd say about a week before the trip. Why?" it wasn't really a probing question and he wasn't really in the mood for answering.

"No reason. What's his best subject?" he had a sneaking suspicion that Lupin had been about to ask for his help in getting ready for the exams. It had spurred him to wonder what his best subject was, seeing as he as so abysmal at Potions.

Kelly didn't even have to think that time, "Transfiguration. He's so good at it that it hurt's. James is top of the class but if Remus wasn't ill so much I think he'd beat him easily." Snape thought for a moment, bagging his root and watching Kelly bag and label hers.

"Why is he ill so often?" he glanced at her and she shrugged.

"Not a clue. I asked James once but he said it upsets him to talk about it so I just left him be." She looked at his list, "Hey, where did you find Killvine Root?"

He pointed behind him, "Over by the conifers on the way here." A few choice swearwords he thought a Ravenclaw shouldn't know flew from her mouth and she gave him a departing wave as she grabbed her partner and bombed across the clearing.

Snape idly wondered if Lupin's condition was terminal as he labelled his root.

\+ + +

"Sirius!" Remus hissed as he felt the hand slide down the back of his t-shirt, making it's way down to his jean clad ass. They were allowed to wear Muggle clothes for the foraging hunts so as not to ruin their robes.

"What?" the voice licked across him just as surely as Sirius Black's own tongue would have done given half the chance.

"Bugger off," he moved away a little, trying to get his pestering boyfriend to leave him alone so that he could dig up root five. It was particularly stubborn and didn't want to leave the ground. What it needed was a few good, sharp tugs but he couldn't give it that with Sirius hanging over him like a sensual spectre, "I need to get this and you need to get moving. James told you to get the Gripper Root."

After a few moments of being shoo'd Sirius left in a huff. Ever since their ... activities ... that morning Sirius hadn't left him alone once. He'd pawed, tickled, caressed and coped feels at every available opportunity. Remus was grateful that he was so interested but Professor Goodkind had a fierce temper and he didn't want to be one of the last teams back and on the receiving end of once of her vindictive streaks.

A hand touched his shoulder and he half jumped out of his skin, "Hey," Sade Kelly. Thank God, he'd thought Sirius had gotten bored and come to try again. He loved him but ... there was only so much he could take without wanting to chew his fingers off.

"Hi," Remus had gone a little lukewarm on Sade after her telling James about the Herbology thing. She hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw for nothing, so where had her impeccable logic go? She surely knew that James would be angry about it, did she do it just to get a rise?

"I thought I'd tell you, before I told James this time," she grimaced, "Snape was asking some funny questions about you earlier." That got his attention. At least she acknowledged that she had been dumb telling James first.

"Oh? Like what?" he tried not to seem too interested and went back to hacking at the root.

"Like when you and Sirius got together."

He shrugged at her. "Half the school wants to know that."

"What your favourite subject is," okay that was a little weird, he had to admit. Since when did Snape give a damn? Mind you, when he'd spoken to him earlier he had seemed to open up a little. He'd actually held a conversation without hexing him ... just about.

"Anything else?"

Sade's face turned apologetic on him, "Well, he wanted to know about your illness." He sat back on his heels. Sade didn't know anything to tell him but nevertheless, he hated when people asked. It was always awkward despite the fact he now had a well rehearsed speech all ready to go. He didn't like lying to people and that, perhaps, was why the people he did tell about `the illness' looked at him funny before accepting it without question.

"Sorry," Sade mumbled, "I told him I didn't know anything. I left to get more roots after that," she gave him a brief, one-armed hug, "Look. I don't know what's wrong and I don't want to go. I'm not trying to stir anything up, I just thought you should know in case he stirs something up."

"Thanks, Sade," he shouldn't have underestimated her like that. Any relative of James had to have some integrity hidden somewhere in there, "I appreciate it," then she left.

When he looked up from his root Sirius was waving something in the air. He must have found what he was looking for. Remus glared at the root, it was coming up, whether it liked it or not. He sighed.

Tonight he was going to have to have another talk with Severus Snape.

\+ + +

"Excellent days work, Severus," Lucius drawled in his ear as he labelled the last root, "I think we may have gotten some points for our house."

We? There was no `we'. Lucius had done no work whatsoever. He had groped Narcissa, he had ordered Crabbe and Goyle to pick out the more difficult roots. That was it.

Lucius clicked his fingers and held out a hand. Goyle groped in his pockets for a while then handed Lucius a handful of something which Lucius looked over before offering to Snape. He raised one elegant black eyebrow, another expression that he'd inherited from a long line of Snape's.

Muggle's would refer to them as joints. In the wizarding world they were simply narcotics. They were a combination of various different illegal Class A-Non Tradable Goods and a Binding spell which bound the ingredients together in a handy thin, parchment like substance. Severus knew that Lucius Malfoy's father was a dealer, more than that, he also knew that Malfoy never touched the stuff himself but if he were to he would only use his fathers brand. It was the `cleanest' there was and the only one Severus knew not to have been infused with Rolacks Resin for potency.

Regular consumption of Rolack's Resin would poison the system. It was worse than what Muggles called `heroin'.

He took the narcotics from the silky smooth hand and pocketed them. At least he'd gotten something out of it. There were six there, they would last him the whole trip and keep him blissfully unaware of everything else around him at night after the foraging hunts.

"Thank you," ever the aristocrat.

"Your welcome," Lucius sent Narcissa floating over to him with one flick of the wrist and Narcissa planted her lips squarely on his. He flinched. Witch of a woman. She was gorgeous but he would never kiss her back. She was Malfoy's and this little favour was only to keep him sweet.

With that he left to hand his roots in for inspection. Hmm ... at least he'd have something to take his mind of off the presence of so many people making so much bloody noise when he was trying to sleep.

\+ + +

Dinner had been an awkward affair. James had been very quiet and after various rounds of questioning from Sirius he had left most of his dinner untouched and retreated into his tent. Peter had twiddled his thumbs and left shortly after, flashing Remus a look with those pale dishwater-tinted-green eyes. Then Sirius had begun to ask questions.

"You know something, Remy," that nickname always haunted him. He would usually answer any of Sirius' questions thanks to that nickname and what was worse, this time is was followed with a tinge of hurt that he couldn't stand.

He had promised. But James had broken his trust, hadn't he? Well, no, not really, if he was to be honest with himself. No matter which way he looked at it, James had helped him. He had given him Sirius and in turn Sirius had given him his love. He couldn't do that to him.

"I don't. Honest." He smiled that provocative smile, hoping he'd take Sirius' mind of off things, "Come on, lets go for nap," he wiggled his eyebrows and it made Sirius laugh. Then he shook his head.

"No," he shuffled closer and wrapped an arm around Remus' shoulder, "Come on, please? He's my best friend. You're my boyfriend. I don't want left in the dark," he made a face that was partway grimace, partway disgust, "Peter knows." His tone was accusing.

"He doesn't know anything," Remus soothed, "He doesn't."

"So then there is something to know?" damn him. That tongue was quick.

"James made me promise. I'm sorry, if you want to know anything then you'll have to ask him yourself." Sirius made a noise deep in his throat. It wasn't a snort but it was a disgusted sound.

"Fine." He got up and made to walk to their tent but was stopped by James' head reappearing. He looked like he'd been crying again. Bollocks. That would only make things that much worse.

James looked around at them both, tear stained cheeks shining in the glow from the fire. Sirius lost his `I'm pissed' expression and walked back. James stuffed both hands deep into his jean pockets as Peter crawled out behind him. "Anyone fancy a walk?" Remus grinned. The answer to their prayers.

"Sure, mate," Sirius gave him a huge grin, "Maybe we can find something interesting ..." Remus shook his head. He was always up for exploring. James gave a more enthusiastic look and Peter pulled on his trainers.

Ten minutes later they were walking through a long stretch of trees that led to a slope. A steep slope that seemed to go on forever. There were little ledges hidden among the trees where one could conceivably sit if they were careful. It had gotten darker and Remus was annoyed that he hadn't thought to bring a Muggle torch with him.

Midway along the walk Sirius took Remus' hand, twining their fingers together and muttering a, "Sorry, love," in his ear. Remus responded by pulling him closer and letting go of his hand, slipping his arm around Sirius' waist. An arm came around his shoulders and he sighed, happy that Sirius wasn't mad with him, happy that they hadn't had an argument.

"You okay now?" Remus asked in Sirius' ear, kissing the tip of it as he pulled back. Sirius smiled that big, lazy and damn sexy smile of his before winking. "Incorrigible," Remus muttered, just loud enough so that it would be picked up. Then something hit his shoulder.

"What was that?" he turned around and then looked up. There in the tree above him was a creature that looked like something between a frog and a green orangutan. It really did look like a webbed footed monkey. There was no fur on the mottled green skin and the short head had little horns. It was grinning at him with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. He involuntarily jumped back and stood on something. When he looked down he realised it was the thing that hit him. It was a chewed up, dead bird.

"Gross!" yelled Sirius and with that he pulled Remus back, away from the swaying creature in the tree above. James and Peter pulled back for a look.

"I know what that is," Peter said, nodding his head and looking very proud of himself. They waited and he gave them an expression that said, `I have no idea why your looking at me like that.'

"Well?" Sirius demanded.

"This isn't the time to try being inscrutable, Wormtail," Remus said. The thing glared down at him with malicious intent glinting in its eyes.

"It's a Clabbert," Peter said, still looking like he was trying to work out what `inscrutable' meant.

"Oh! I was reading about that in my Fantastic Beasts book for Care of Magical Creatures," James said, clicking his finger and stamping his foot impatiently, "Dammit! What did it say?"

"It's from America," Peter supplied helpfully.

"Great, Peter. What do you suggest? We whistle `Star Spangled Banner' to it?" Sirius snapped, arms coming protectively around Remus' waist, pulling him back another few steps.

"I remember something about it," James said, turning to them, "That thing that looks like a huge zit on its forehead, it turns red when there's danger so, presumably, if we don't frighten it and just keep walking it won't think we're threatening it and it'll leave us alone." He looked at them uncertainly, "Presumably."

"Right," Remus took Sirius arm and grabbed Peter's sleeve, "I vote for that, let's go." The Clabbert looked at them, watched them as they walked away and then disappeared into the trees.

"I think it's harmless," Peter said, still moving too slowly for Remus' comfort, "It only had two X's at it's title in the book."

James grabbed him and yanked him along further, "Books can be wrong."

They'd walked along for another fifteen minutes or so before they slowed down. Remus found a shaft of light from the moon in the forest foliage and checked Sirius' watch. Eight o'clock. They were fine. Ten was the curfew. Sirius had wrapped an arm about his shoulders again. He had never been in a relationship like this. All but one had been with girls, not that it mattered all that much, and he'd never felt this compulsion to be around them all the time. He felt safe with Sirius.

He was in love.

As soon as that thought hit him he whirled around and wrapped Sirius in a huge hug, kissing him fiercely. He could feel James and Peter stop behind them, probably grinning manically. He also thought that was part of the reason he felt so comfortable, he could do things like this and not only did they not mind and not tease but they encouraged him.

Sirius came up from the kiss breathless. Remus was about an inch shorter than James and two shorter than Sirius, being taller than Peter by an inch or two as well so Sirius had to lean down to kiss him. It gave the impression that his head snapped back every time they'd had a particularly passionate embrace between them.

"What was that for?" he asked, his lips were swollen and red. Gods he looked edible.

"Just cause I love you so much," that earned him a grin and a head buried into his shoulder. A chorus of `awww's' sounded from behind him and James' hand rubbed at his back. He loved his friends.

"Love you too," Sirius mumbled into his shoulder. Remus squeezed him tighter. Sirius black hair had come out of its tie and had splayed over his shoulder like a curtain, brushing it's silky locks over his cheek.

"Come on, you two," James muttered from behind him. He had a note in his voice that said he was thinking about Lily and switching back into depressed mode.

They started walking again, Remus and Sirius linked closely around each other and holding tight. It was almost black now but the forest seemed to become alive, noises frequently making them jump, some making them laugh. Around nine thirty Remus told them they should probably put the quick-step on and go back. They'd agreed and had been walking for about five minutes when James stopped, very near the slope and crouched, peering through the branches.

After a few seconds he turned with a huge grin on his face and motioned them closer, "Come see this." They clambered over and looked through the gap in the trees.

The first thing that caught Remus' eye was a soft glow in the darkness. He followed it as it rose up and a face was suddenly illuminated in the darkness. Snape. Smoking. Getting high. Uh-oh.

"Where did he get that?" Sirius hissed in the darkness.

"I have no idea," James replied, "But he's not exactly making it last is he?"

"You think he's got more, like?" Sirius squeezed closer, "I don't see anything. Mind you that doesn't mean a lot."

"We are so going to get it of off him," James muttered. He was grinning, Remus could tell, it echoed through his voice.

"Tomorrow night we'll do something," Sirius said, thoughtfully, "Otherwise, Moony here will have an aneurysm about getting in late," he said it good naturedly but it still stung. It wasn't his fault that they didn't have time.

"Yeah," James turned around, "Tomorrow night we'll get it." He rubbed his hands together, "Slytherin weed, huh?"

Laughing the three of them pulled back, dragging Remus with them. Sirius threaded his arm around Remus' waist again and he started plotting with James on his other side. Peter touched a hand to his arm, "Okay?" he asked, a small smile on his weak chinned face.

"No," Remus muttered, "Not really."


	4. Chapter Three: The Prank and the Slope

Severus woke up with his head spinning. Gods, he felt groggy. His tongue was also plastered to he roof of his mouth. Eugh. He needed a drink, a bath and another smoke. That would make him feel better.

It took him a few minutes to get dressed and get up without injuring himself in the process on the various things laying about the floor of his tent. When he finally managed to make his way outside the light nearly blinded him. Great, light-headed and dehydrated with the hot sun beating down on him as if he were in the middle of the Sahara. This was going to be a bad day. He could feel it.

In the line for breakfast, holding out his plate for a serving of scrambled eggs and dry toast, Remus Lupin sidled up to him, his plate ready for a refill.

"You look ill," he said, lifting one hand to Severus' forehead to check his temperature. Severus pulled back.

"What do you want this time, Lupin?" he ground out. It was supposed to sound scathing and snippy but it came out as a long suffering sigh.

Lupin didn't seem deterred in the slightest, "You should get some hot tea into you," he smiled kindly, "And my illness if hereditary but manageable. It's nothing to worry about." Severus gave him a hard, uninterested look.

"Why in the blue hell would I be interested in your bloody illness, Lupin?" he walked further up in the line. How did Lupin know? He flicked over this in his head and found only one answer: Sade Kelly. Bitch.

"I just ... well someone told me you asked so I thought I'd tell you in case you were worried," he gestured forward with his plate, prompting Severus to move further up the line, "It's not threatening to anyone except for when it's at it's most infectious. Then I have to leave for three days or so no one catches it. But I'm okay so there's no need to be concerned."

"I wasn't concerned," he snipped whilst making a mental note to look further into Lupin's little hereditary illness.

"Good." Lupin motioned for him to go first in the line and some Hufflepuff called Stacey pointed her ladle towards the eggs.

"Eggs hard boiled or scrambled?" he sent her daggers.

"Scrambled."

"Toast or fruit?" there was a long pause while she smiled brightly at him.

"Toast."

"Bacon and beans?" it was seven thirty. Why in the hell was she so bloody cheery?

"Yes."

"Do you want tea? Black? Milk? Sugar?" she ferreted a cup out of a pile.

"Black."

Once she'd given him his breakfast she smiled brightly and he walked away before she said, `Have a nice day.' Lupin caught his sleeve, "Hang on a sec'." Then he filled his plate and gave Stacey the Hufflepuff a quick peck on the cheek, "Ta, hun." Catching up with Severus he smiled again.

"Everyone where I am's asleep. Can I have breakfast with you?" Severus took a second to absorb that.

"Do what you damn well please, Lupin!" he stormed back to his tent and, without turning around, he knew that Remus Lupin was following him like some forlorn puppy dog. Bloody hell! Was it so much to ask? One breakfast on his own?

They settled on the grass, Lupin tucking in to a second plate of piled on eggs, bacon and beans. Severus took a bite of his toast, not having to feign the exasperated look on his face. From now on he was going to keep his big mouth shut, permanently. He would stay as far away from Lupin as physically possible. More to the point, he would get rid of him before Malfoy woke up.

"I ... look. I don't want to aggravate you. I don't want to upset you, I just - -"

"Want to make up for what your imbeciles of friends have done to me in the past six years? Forget it. I told you, I don't want your pity," he hadn't actually meant to say that but when he opened his mouth he found that his common sense had decided to take a leave of absence while his brain was constructing that sentence.

"No, that's not it at all!" the plate was settled on the ground now, great Gods, "I'm not doing this out of some - -" he stumbled for the words so Severus obliged him.

"Misplaced sense of guilt?" The scathing remark seemed to humble Lupin a little, so much so that he seemed to shrink a few inches. Severus felt an unusual pang of guilt himself. When Lupin finally stopped twiddling with his fingers and lifted his head, the usually light honey coloured skin had turned a nice shade of magenta.

"Well, yeah. I'm n-not trying to make myself feel better," before Severus could open his mouth Lupin held up his hands and added quickly, "And I'm not trying to get you to help with my crappy work in Potions either!" with a deep breath Severus shut up long enough to let Lupin keep going, "I just thought that you could use another friend. You seem kinda' lonely and I've always tried to talk to you. You just make yourself so unreachable."

Severus stared at him for one long moment and then got on with his breakfast. Maybe if he ignored him Lupin would take the hint. He doubted it but he could live in hope. Unreachable, indeed.

"Well done on the hunt, I heard you were first team in?" nice that you noticed, Lupin. Yes we were first in because of all of my hard work.

"I may have cheated, remember?" Lupin give him his first raised eyebrow. He'd never saw Lupin do that before. The tawny colour of Lupin's hair took away from the effect so instead of saying `You idiot' like Severus' own, it said `Really? Do you think so?' It had the effect of being quite humbling. Bugger.

"Come on, Severus, we both know that you haven't cheated in your life. At least not when your schoolwork is concerned. Your far too bright for that, it would be an insult to your intelligence." Severus took one bite out of a fresh slice of toast and then put it down in disgust. "Are you not eating that?" when Severus shook his head Lupin snagged it and bit half the toast of in one go.

"You must have had quite a workout to work up to an appetite like that," the crimson in Lupin' cheeks was, this time, accompanied with a grin.

"Something like that," he mumbled.

They sat in, what Severus guessed, must have been relatively companionable silence for a the rest of breakfast then, when Lupin had finished his second plate, he looked around him to see Peter Pettigrew coming out of his tent. "I take it your leaving now?" Severus asked, with a hopeful tone in his voice.

"Yeah, I better." Lupin's face contracted in an unusual frown, "Severus ... don't go out of your tent tonight. Please?"

Severus shielded his eyes from the sun and looked up at Lupin, putting as much of a glare into his squint as he could, "Is that a threat?"

"No. I'm just saying that if something does happen ... I won't be able to do anything. That's all," and with that he walked off, giving Severus a parting wave.

*

Sirius wiped dirt from his face with near ferocious swipes. James kicked a stone which rebounded of off a tree and hit a Ravenclaw as she passed (he didn't apologise) and Peter sat with his head in his hands on the ground. "It's not that bad," Remus tried, "We've got more hunts to go."

"Not that bad?" Sirius hissed, "Slytherin won! Gryffindor are last in the table," he leant into Remus ear as if he was embarrassed, "Hufflepuff are beating us" said the urgent whisper.

"Oh, come on. There's loads of time left," Remus looked up, catching Sirius bright blue eyes. His boyfriend picked a leaf out of his extremely mussed up tawny hair.

"Whatever. It was Snape's team in first, I say we make sure he knows not to come in first tomorrow," James could be very malicious when he wanted to be. Especially when he was loosing and when he had things on his mind. Remus gave him his best withering look.

"So we cheat?" he asked, "We do the exact thing that you cornered Snape about?" none of them answered, they seldom did when he chose to use that tone with them, make them feel ashamed. "Grand," and with that he walked off.

He stormed into the tent and sat for a while, rubbing dirt of off him and silently fuming. How could they be so ... hypocritical? How could they do exactly what they made Severus suffer for `supposedly' doing? It wasn't fair, it just wasn't - - Well he was going to stay right here. They could bully and push all they liked. He'd warned Severus and there was nothing more he could do.

He changed from his dirty clothes into something a little tidier, more comfortable. It didn't improve his mood. He tried to read something for Transfiguration, he tried a few difficult charms. It didn't improve his mood. Before he knew it his watch told him that it was eight-thirty.

Gently he squeezed the little fluffy ball of blue light. It was a simple charm Professor Goodkind had decided on so that they could see at night after there was an outbreak of black bruises from misplaced elbows. The blue light quivered gently and went out leaving a floating white ball of fluff in it's place. If he'd have given it a seconds thought he would have said it was cute. As it was he simply barged out of his tent, looking over to where Severus Snape had pitched his.

The blue ball didn't make tents see-through but there was always a faint outline so you were able to tell if someone was inside or not. Severus' light was on but, as far as he could see, there was not outline. He walked toward the tent, he would check, in case he was laying down. A voice stopped him before he knocked.

"He's not there," it was Stacey the Hufflepuff sitting with her boyfriend, "He left about half an hour ago." She bit her lip. There was more.

"Stace'?"

"James and Sirius followed him. Peter wanted to go back for you but they said you wouldn't want to come. Sirius looked right pissed off about something," she smiled gently, "I expect you two have had an argument, then?" he didn't hear the whole of that last part. He was running into the woods. Gods, what were those idiots going to do now?

He loved his friends. He was in love with Sirius.

This, however, was not on.

When he came to the clearing there was the distinct sound of voices in the near darkness. Then there was a flash of light and a groan ... it had come from Sirius. He could tell. Sirius groaned when he was with him, although for a different reason, and he could just tell. It was a bored groan, as if something was extremely tedious. Stumbling forward through the dark bush and wedging himself between two trees, Remus got his first glimpse of the scene.

Severus was standing a little way off, disturbingly close to the edge of the slope. He had his dark wooded wand pointed straight between Sirius' eyes. Sirius was standing stiffly, his wand on the ground where he must have been made to toss it. James was laying, panting, very close to him, with Peter holding him up. He looked like he'd been punched in the gut. Remus also noticed that Peter was stuffing the narcotics Severus had been smoking into his pocket. One he had to grind out because it was still smoking.

So, half baked, Severus Snape had still managed to overcome three of his peers? Okay, two because Remus couldn't see Peter's wand anywhere. James and Sirius had grossly underestimated Severus, it seemed.

"Just put the wand down, Snape," Sirius hissed, "We'll leave and no one needs to get hurt - -" James made a furious grunt of protest from the ground and Remus felt like kicking him, "All right! No one else needs to get hurt."

Severus didn't even consider this, his hawkish features contracting in a look of pure disgust, "Put my wand down so that you can grind my face into the dirt?" he made a nasty little snorting noise, "Like hell."

"Fuck! What the hell do you want me to do then?" Sirius asked, throwing up his hands and causing Severus to jerk his want at him, making him stay still, "Well? I'm not standing here all night freezing my tits off so that you can point that thing at me!" that, Remus felt, was his cue.

"Put the wand away, Severus," he pushed himself from out in the bushes, "I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you. We'll just walk away." Severus got such a fright that he spun, holding his wand out to Remus, who threw his hands up in a surrender-like gesture.

The next part happened very quickly.

Sirius yelled, "Oi!" and threw himself at Snape, who's wand went flying out of his hand on impact. The two of them, thankfully, rolled the opposite way from the slope and, fists flying, came to a stop with Sirius on top. James had managed to get up somehow and, with whatever sense he had left, grabbed Sirius arm before he could pulverise Severus further. Peter scrambled around, picking up both James and Sirius' wands before giving Remus a tight-lipped smile, as if sensing his disapproval.

"What the hell did you do that for?" he roared at Sirius. His boyfriend, who had seconds before been rubbing mud from himself, looked up. His expression changed from anger to shock. No one was accustomed to hearing Remus yell, for any reason. A restrained individual at heart, Remus rarely shouted or lost his temper. He had a journal into which he silently poured his rage and frustration, lancing off all of his venom before it touched his tongue. His journal was locked with a nice little spell which no one had been able to work out ... not that they hadn't tried.

"I-I," for once Sirius seemed lost for words, "He pointed his wand at you!" his protests were mild and spoken in a low, hurt voice. This was the result of Remus' guilt trips with them. Sirius' temper would evaporate, James would get very quiet and Peter frequently burst into tears. That was precisely the reason that he didn't do it often. He didn't like upsetting people, least of all his friends.

"He wasn't going to hurt me!" and for some reason he knew it was true, "There was no need for that, you just did it to show off, as usual. I'm sick of it, Siri'!" he tried to stop himself from using the nickname but it rolled of off his tongue. The result of this Remus had never before witnessed. When Sirius did lift his head and let Remus meet his eyes the blue depths were hollow and hurt, they were a lot wetter than usual. Oh, Christ. Sirius though he was going to break up with him.

Before he could say anything even remotely comforting a groan sounded and he almost ran over to Severus' side, kneeling down.

There was an unpleasant scrape and a dripping patch of blood from Severus' temple. It looked nasty. Remus put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief which he pressed to the wound. Severus didn't protest and Remus had the sickly feeling that he was beyond that, almost unconscious. His eyes were glazed and his eyelids were closing and flying open again at regular intervals. He looked very sick.

"James," Remus whispered, "Give me your wand." James and co must have sensed the seriousness of the situation because the request was granted instantly. When Remus had the wand he wracked his brain desperately trying to remember old Latin words that clung on at the end of his subconscious. He chanted slowly, desperate not to make the damage worse and, to his immense relief, the wound closed, the blood closed off from dripping onto the handkerchief. Severus still looked stunned.

"Is he all right?" Sirius asked in a low whisper, his voice threatening to crack with emotion thanks to Remus' supposed betrayal.

"We'll see in a second," Remus answered and he picked up his wand again, "Ennervate," he whispered. Luckily, it worked. Severus' eyes flew open, he took one look around and got up, stumbling for his wand. As soon as he'd snatched it up he threw a furious look at Remus, "Thanks for nothing," then he stalked off, back the way Remus had come.

In the stillness that followed Remus somehow made his way back to camp, just ahead of the others, keeping Severus in sight all the way. Five minutes later he'd told Sirius that James was swapping for the night, that he was sleeping with Peter. The same second he finally saw Sirius' mask of cheerfulness break and misery creep into his eyes along with fresh tears.

To this day, Remus Lupin has no clue how he managed any of it, including the climbing into bed that quickly followed.


End file.
